Military leaders pledge to integrate

Military leaders pledged Thursday to ensure the process of integrating gays and lesbians openly into the armed forces will work — even though some of them still have reservations about it.

“Your Marines will continue to faithfully abide by the laws of this nation and will conduct themselves in accordance with the intent of the new policy,” Gen. James Amos, Marine Corps commandant, told the House Armed Services Committee.

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Republicans on the committee are still bristling that the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was overturned in a lame-duck session of Congress on Dec. 22 — with the help of several members who already had lost reelection. They summoned Amos, along with the chiefs of staff of the Army, Navy and Air Force, to answer their concerns before the committee Thursday. “As a result of the rush to judgment that bypassed this committee, Congress was denied the opportunity to ask questions and identify weaknesses in the repeal implementation plan,” said Rep. Buck McKeon of California, the panel’s chairman.

Committee Democrats accused Republicans of trying to litigate a settled issue again. “Driving able-bodied people out of the military who are serving us well does not make us safer,” said Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the panel’s ranking Democrat. “It is long past time to study this issue. … I hope we will go forward to the implementation of this policy as quickly as possible.”

Republicans who want to slow or stop implementation of the repeal worry about its impact on military readiness, recruitment and retention in a nation at war, along with the possibility that troops opposed to homosexuality — particularly chaplains — would be silenced or scapegoated. They were hoping the service chiefs would provide them with evidence that their concerns were justified, but all four said they have not seen anything in a massive training program scheduled to be completed by midsummer that would require a delay in implementation.

“There are questions … the kinds of questions you’d expect. But there hasn’t been the recalcitrant pushback from the forces in the field,” said Amos, who had publicly expressed reservations about repealing the ban before it passed.

The repeal will take effect 60 days after President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that the military is ready to implement it. That certification is expected to take place near the time the training program is completed.

None of the chiefs suggested there was any reason for a delay, but Amos, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff, and Air Force chief of staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said they remained moderately concerned about the risks to military readiness.

“I am more comfortable than I was” on Dec. 22, “but we still have a ways to go,” Schwartz said.